Valerian broke into outright ughter at his brother's joke, the sound startling in the stunned silence that had followed Lucius's deadpan question. The military leader's rare dispy of amusement drew Dante and Seraphina's attention immediately, their shocked expressions shifting toward him.

  Still holding Nova's former owner by the colr with casual strength, Valerian addressed their astonishment with characteristic bluntness: "If you ever visited my territory, you'd know eating food is normal for us. My brother's army all eat food too."

  The casual statement nded with the impact of artillery fire. In a single sentence, Valerian had shattered multiple fundamental assumptions about vampire existence—not just that an entire territory of vampires consumed food, but that he had openly referred to Lucius as "my brother." After two thousand years of carefully maintaining the appearance of being merely political allies, Valerian had confirmed their biological retionship with the same casual ease as discussing dining habits.

  Dante and Seraphina's expressions transformed in stages: from initial shock to utter disbelief to dawning comprehension as the implications cascaded through their understanding of vampire society. Centuries of puzzling observations suddenly made sense—Valerian's territory's famous self-sufficiency, its strange independence from blood farms, its unusually closed borders that prevented casual observation.

  Court officials exchanged armed gnces as they processed this revetion alongside what they had just witnessed with Lucius. The two most powerful vampire leaders in existence had maintained this deception for two thousand years, operating with abilities that contradicted the supposed limitations defining vampire nature.

  Nova watched this unfolding scene with growing fascination, his meal forgotten as he observed the systematic dismantling of vampire society's most basic assumptions. The former hybrid captive seemed to grasp the magnitude of what was happening more clearly than many of the vampires present, his ck of investment in vampire mythology allowing him to appreciate the strategic brilliance of such a long-maintained deception.

  Throughout this revetion, Valerian maintained his nonchant attitude, the unconscious military casualness with which he held Nova's former owner by the colr only emphasizing his complete comfort with the situation. Like his brother, he seemed almost relieved to finally speak openly after two millennia of careful concealment.

  "The look on your faces," Valerian remarked with military directness, addressing Dante and Seraphina. "You've served alongside us for centuries, and you never once questioned why my territory required so little blood supply from outside sources."

  The simple observation highlighted just how effective their deception had been—so integrated into vampire society's assumptions that even those at the highest levels of governance had never thought to question capabilities that seemed impossible by definition.

  Lord Darius, still dangling from Valerian's grip, appeared to be processing these revetions alongside everyone else, his terror temporarily overcome by sheer disbelief as he stared at Lucius continuing his meal.